Construction toy element



E.W. FARMER I 2,410,409

CONSTRUCTION TOY ELEMENT Nov. 5, 1946.-

Filed Sept. 27, 1945 INVENTOR. BWEETIJM FAFmER BY/%W.

' ments and has,

ate'nted 1946 2,410,409 QQNSTRUC'I ION TOYELEMENT Earl Weston Farmer, Wayzata, Minn. Application September 27, 1945, Serial No. 618,867

it s ts ;o ect to provide cooperatingelements for construction toys which make possible a multiplicity of arrangements to produce a very large number of devices.

Heretofore construction toys have consisted of plates, bars, pro-fabricated Wheels and the like, with perforations suitably distributed therein, which, in combination with screw bolts or other fastening means, has enabled the owners of the toy set-usua11y boys from eight to fifteen years old-to put together .these elements in many different ways to produce recognized and known small replicas of various operative structures such. as wagons, trucks, towers, windmills and the like.

I have discovered that a disk member formed with a central portion with fiat plane faces and an angularly flaring rim with its edge in a plane spaced from and parallel with the faces of the central portion, and having a central opening and a circumferentially disposed series of other openings adjacent the juncture of the rim with the central portion can be employed in many relations with'other elements of toy construction sets to produce a large number of different and distinctive articles.

It is a principal object of my invention to'provide as an element of a, construction toy set a disklike member being dished by having a flat central portion with plane inner and outer surfaces and provided with a flaring rim portion having its lower edge united with and continuous from the flat central portion audits outer edge falling in a plane parallel with the surfaces of the central portion. s

It is a further object of my invention to profeature of saidarticles.

distinctive character, wherein the disk element aways functions as an essential and distinguishing It is a further object of my invention to form the collar member above defined with a central openin adapted to receive a crankshaft or the like, and to have a set screw in the collar of said collar member by which the collar member and thedisk parts carried thereby'may be fixedly secured to said crankshaft or the like.

It is a further object of my invention to employ washers which may be placed between pairs of said disks, and thereby a Windlass or reel Ora wide V-belt pulley may be constructed.

It is a further object of my invention to provide,

in combination with said disk elements and the collar member for securing them together, a

washer member having a perforation or opening whereby an eccentric drive shaft may be de-' veloped. I

It is a further object of my invention to employ the openings at the sides of the disk elements 'for the reception of a series of transverse pins between a pair of disks, whereby an enlarged gear member is produced.

It is a further object of my invention to usethe edge perforations for attachment of other elements, such as plates or bars, whereby a windmill structure or other forms of rotary structure may be produced.

vide such element with a central, preferably circular, opening and a series of openings inside the edge of the central portion and the edge of the rim, said edge openings being spaced apart equally and being each radially equidistant from the center of the element.

Itis a further object of my invention to provide means for securing together a multiplicity of said dished elements in various ways to produce wheels, pulleys, gears and the like,- and to secure said united elements upon a rotary element such as a shaft, a crank or the like.

It is a further object of my invention to employ the disk elements having the central and circumferential row of openings therein'ln combination with the different toy construction elements of a,

The full objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description now to be given in the appended specification, and the novel features of my invention 40 by which the aforementioned interesting, advanset and with fastening means such as screw bolts and the like to make a multiplicityof articles of tageous and useful results maybe obtained will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing illustrating an application of my invention in some of its forms:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the disk element viewed toward the inside of the dished part thereof.

Fig. 2 is an edge view of the disk element shown in Fig. 1.

{ Fig. 31s acentral sectional view taken on line Q 3-8 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an end elevation view of the collar element adapted to be employed in connection with a plurality 01 said disk elements.

Fig. 515 a side elevation view of the part shown inFig.4.

3 P 8. 6 is a sectional elevation view similar in position to Fig. 5.

Fig. '1 shows a pulley constructed from a pair of disks of Fig. 1, the collar member of Figs. 4

and 5 and a nut upon the threaded portion of the collar member.

Fig. 8 is a wheel formed-by two disks held by a collar member and nut on the same with their outer edges meeting.

Fig. 9 illustrates the combination of a flywheel and pulley on a shaft taken as an edge elevation.

Fig. 10 shows a combination of the disks with washers .of relatively large diameter to make a windlass or reel.

Fig. 11 similarly shows the use of the disk elements and smaller washers secured on a shaft to make a V-belt pulley.

Fig.'l2 illustrates the union of disks to make a pulley and also disks separated by washers with pins extending through the openings in the disks to make a form of gear, all mounted on a crankshaft.

Fig. 13 shows a top plan view of the use of the disks to make an eccentric crank.

Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken on line ll-Il of Fig. 13, showing the mounting of the crank member.

' 21 will be twice as wide.

of its outer edge I falling in a plane parallel to a said surfaces. Furthermore, the rim I3 is provided with an outer cylindrical limiting margin 15 which is parallel to the vertical axis passing through the center of plate III.

At the center of the fiat portion II is a circular aperture it which is adapted to receive the threaded portion ll of a collar piece It, Figs. 4, 5 and 6. The collar piece l8, in addition to the threaded portion H, has a cylindrical collar part II, and a cylindrical opening 2. extends centrally through the collar piece It.

The opening III is adapted to receive a shaft member such as 2! in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, or a crankshaft member such as 22, in Fig. 12.

The threaded portion H of the collar'member ll may be made of any desired length-and is of asize to just pass through the opening It in the central portion l l of element i0.

' When two or more of said elements are placedover the threaded portion ll, the inner side of one of said elements will come against the shoulder 23 of the collarportion l9, and a nut 24 is screwed upon the threaded portion II and firmly secures the elements upon the collar member.

A set screw 25 may be forced against the body of shaft It or 22. Thus the combinations brought about by the assembly of a multiplicity of disks upon the threaded extension I! of collar piece ll results in a'rigid fixed attachment of said disks to the shaft or crankshaft in that combination.

A very great number of combinations may be made in this way, 'a few'of which are shown in Figs. 7 to'l4. .Thus, as shown in Fig. 7, the two disks iii are united to shaft 2! with the daring rims of the disks adjacent, producing a V-groove It for an effectivepulley construction as in Figs. 7 and 9.

In Fig. 8 two disks II are shown fixed to the shaft 21 with the cylindrical margins ii in contact, thus producing a. wheel with a tire face 21. The face 21 may be made larger or wider in transverse extent by simply adding more of the disks stead of the two shown in Fig. 8, the wheel face .In Fig. 10 two disks ll are shown with their flaring rims faced toward each other but separated by a group of washers 28 of considerable size, which produces a very good windlass or reel structure.

In "Fig. 11 the disk members are similarly held apart by smaller washers 29 which gives a wider v-belt pulley.

In Fig. 9 two disk members iii are united to form the V-groove 25 adjacent flywheel or belt pulley member 30, thus producing an excellent flywheel structure on shaft 2 I. r

The central portion ll of the disks ii are provided with a multiplicity of round edge apertures 3!. These apertures may be employed in securing to the disk other parts suchas bars or lates which may thus simulate a windmill construction. In Fig. 12 there are shown secured by means of these openings a series of pins or washers 12 whereby a cog gear is produced.

A very excellent example of the utility of the disk elements inproducing interesting mechanical structures is shown in Figs. 13 and 14.

As there shown, two disks III are secured upon the shaft II in the manner heretofore described, excepting that a single washer 33 is held between them. This washer has a perforation 34 offset from the central perforation 35 and the threaded section I! of the collar piece 18 goes through this offset or eccentric opening in the washer, as clearly shown in Fig. 14. In assembling the two disks. iii and the intermediate washer 33 a fiat bar or shaft member 36 is employed, which is slightly thinner transversely than the thickness of washer 33.

This bar or crank rod has a head 31 having therein a circular opening 38 which just fits about the outer circumferential limits of the washer 33. The nut 2! for securing the parts together thus presses the fiat faces of the disks ll upon the washer 33 between them and leaves the bar 35 or the head 31 therein free from any binding action. It follows that when the combination is turned by the shaft 2|, the bar It will be given a back and forth reciprocating movement corresponding to that of any eccentric crankshaft or crank bar.

.The'advantages of my invention are thus apparent. This simple element, in combination with the hollow collar piece, entirely separate from it, lends itself to the production of a very large number of interesting and useful structures in the field of construction toys. In this way it becomes the very heart of a construction toy set adapted for the use of the ingenious boy in the construction not only of many different types of devices, but particularly in the construction of unusual devices having an unusual interest appeal.

I claim: v I

1. In combination, a toy element consisting of a pair of circular disks of metal, each having a central opening and a plane-faced central por- 'tion with an angulariy flaring rim, a. tubular collar member having a central opening adapting it .to be secured to a shaft and having a threaded part to extend through said openings inthe disks. a washer on said threaded part having an opening eccentric to the center of the washer, a crank blade on said washer of less thickness than the thickness of the washer, a nut on the threaded extension clamping the disks upon the eccentric washer to'leave the crank IO. thus where four of such disks are used -in-. 76 blade free t move t a a n; t n

said toy construction element consisting of a circular disk of metal, plastic. or the like, having a unitary central portion with its faces in unbroken planes and having an angularly outwardly flaring rim joined to the central portion with its outer edge in a plane spaced from and parallel with the faces of the central portion, -a. circular hole formed through the center of said central portion, a series of circular holes through'said central portion spaced from the central hole and lying with their centers in a circle, said holes being equidistant one from the other and having their outer limitsat substantially the inner point of junction of theflaring rim and the central portion of the disk, said last-named element be- .ing adapted for connection by means of at least one of said holes with one or more of the first-' named toy construction elements in varying relations thereto, wherein the said hole or holes and the flaring rim are conjointly effective in producing numerous difierent types of toy constructions.

E. WESTON FARMER. 

